MILAN (ITALPRESS) – The reasons for the friendship and commercial exchange between Italy and China are stronger than any contingent difficulty: this is the message that comes out loud and clear from the conference which took place yesterday afternoon at Palazzo Turati in Milan, from title “Strengthening and consolidating relations between China and Europe”. Much more than a declaration of intent, the start of a concrete path of collaboration sanctioned by the signing of the agreement for the Sino-Italian Furniture Industrial Park.
The debate, promoted by the monthly magazine Economy, saw the participation of speakers such as Liu Kan, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Milan, Mario Boselli, President of the Italy China Council Foundation, Wu Zhongqiong, Deputy Secretary of the Jiangxi Province Committee, Secretary of the Ganzhou Municipal Committee, He Shanjin, Permanent Member of the Ganzhou Municipal Committee, Secretary of the Nankang District Committee, Cristina Rossello, member of the European Union Policies Commission of the Chamber, Giuliano Noci, Full Professor of Strategy and Marketing and Vice Rector for China of the Polytechnic of Milan.
“In 2023, Italy increased exports to China by 16.7% to 19 billion euros, in a year in which Chinese GDP grew by 5.2%,” said Consul General Liu Kan ( in the picture).
“Italy is the fourth European trading partner for China, while China is the first Asian partner for Italy. Last year China announced the end of all restrictions on foreign investment in manufacturing activities, which demonstrates a desire for openness – he added -. I greet the representatives of Jiangxi, a province that offers many commercial opportunities, and of its city Ganzhou, which has a complete industrial chain with the largest companies, and is therefore fertile ground for the development of commercial relations. On the occasion of the seven hundredth anniversary of Marco Polo’s death there is today the possibility of going to China for 15 days without a visa: an excellent opportunity to increase visits and exchanges”.
“It is a pleasure to see the presence of such a high level delegation – said Mario Boselli, President of the Italy China Council Foundation -, it should be a constant feature of Italy-China relations not only in a week like that of the Salone del Mobile. We are going back to China, but we still have to push to recover the pre-Covid level. Italy China Council Foundation is the result of the merger between the Italy-China Foundation and the Italian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce. We are committed to the front line to foster relations between the two countries. For this reason we have created a tool to facilitate relationships between businesses, the Italy China economic cooperation council, which is aimed above all at SMEs, a beautiful reality both Italian and Chinese”.
“We are very happy to find our Italian friends in a city so important for fashion, art and design, to be able to lend a hand to the development of Chinese cooperation,” said Wu Zhongqiong, Deputy Secretary of the Committee of the province of Jiangxi, Secretary of Ganzhou Municipal Committee. “The city of Ganzhou has a fascinating history, which was born 2200 years ago; a thousand years ago with the Sung dynasty it was one of the 36 great Chinese cities, and it still retains the walls of that era today – he continued -. We are rich in mineral resources and natural beauty: Ganzhou has 71% forest cover, with significant fruit production: as Mao said, you won’t find such a green place in all of China. The city is also active in the furniture sector, a sector in which it promotes the use of technological and sustainable raw materials. On May 28th, several Italian companies will be present at the Ganzhou fair: we hope they will find development opportunities for their business”.
“I am honored to be in Milan, the capital of design: just this morning the Nankang furniture pavilion was inaugurated, the largest production center in the Chinese furniture industry with more than 10 thousand companies, 500 thousand employees, 270 billion Yuan in 2023,” said He Shanjin, Permanent Member of Ganzhou Municipal Committee, Secretary of Nankang District Committee. “Nankang is the Chinese capital of solid wood furniture, sold in 29 provinces in China and more than 100 countries around the world, built 2600 new franchise stores. We are accelerating the pace to ensure that Nankang furniture spreads throughout the world – he added -. The furniture industry is experiencing a smart and green transformation. We have developed collaborations with Italian and other design institutes, developing digital creativity to make products increasingly aligned with international ones. Italy and China are also united thanks to furniture, and thanks to furniture they will form an even deeper friendship.”
“I am president of the cultural intergroup of the Parliament for the protection of the Italian heritage, I appreciated the words that were said by the speakers: the important thing is the call for harmony and dialogue and the title of the conference which evokes the strengthening and consolidation relationships”, says MP Cristina Rossello. “My generation read Marco Polo’s Million in adolescence which recounted his magnificent travels. Words that commit us to consolidate our relationships, our businesses speak to each other and love beauty, culture, the important things of history. Dialogue between companies strengthens relationships – she added. After what we have been through with the pandemic and today the war situations we must find a dialogue that goes beyond the difficulties, the choice to do common work and do what is beautiful must be the one that helps us overcome everything together”.
“As the Polytechnic of Milan we are now the most important European university in China – stated Giuliano Noci, Full Professor of Strategy and Marketing at the Polytechnic of Milan -. We are the only European university with a vice-rector for China, underlining its strategic value. Among the various initiatives we have created is the Joint school of design and innovation center, born from the collaboration between the Polytechnic University of Milan and Xian Jiaotong University (XJTU) and in 2019 in Xian. Housed in a smart building designed by architects from the Polytechnic, it is an international platform dedicated to both teaching and research, as well as startup incubation and technology transfer. There are various areas of potential growth for Italian-Chinese collaboration: agri-food, environmental technologies, management of the elderly population, Smart Cities. I hope for a more effective collaboration from a logistical point of view; and to play an integrated game for Africa’s growth. But centralized and integrated control rooms are needed.”
Among the speakers at the round table: Luca D’Ambrosio, International Contact Partner of the China Desk of Rsm SpA; Francesca Zanasi, vice president of the Milan Bar Association, head of the international department; Gianni Cicero, President of Valore Impresa; Michele Lomurno, CEO of the Filosofà company in Altamura; Alessandro Civati, CEO and founder of Lutinx, a blockchain services platform; Daniel Popa and Giandomenico Mastrangelo of Azimut Group.
– Economy Photo –
(ITALPRESS).
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